Will Romelu Lukaku come back to haunt West Bromwich Albion?

Romelu Lukaku has been a huge player for Everton this season (Picture: Getty Images

With Romelu Lukaku currently banging the goals in for Everton, West Bromwich Albion fans will be wary of the Belgian striker’s return to the Hawthorns on Monday evening.

The on-loan Chelsea youngster became an instant hit with Baggies fans when he came on as a sub and scored on his debut in a 3-1 win against Liverpool.

Lukaku went on to score 17 goals throughout last season, including a memorable hat-trick in the final game, an incredible 5-5 draw with Manchester United. Lukaku’s goalscoring was so prolific that he outscored every striker at his parent club, Chelsea. This was despite making several of his appearances from the substitutes’ bench.

Albion tried to secure Lukaku for another season but Chelsea decided that he would benefit further from a season long loan at Everton, leaving a huge hole in the Albion side which, as yet, remains unfilled.

Nicolas Anelka, Victor Anichebe, Shane Long and Matej Vydra have all failed to make a similar impact despite bright spells from all of them at times.

Nicolas Anelka has not been an adequate replacement for Romely Lukaku (Picture: Getty Images)

Only Saido Berahino has consistently scored goals for the Baggies this year, but even he fails to scare defenders the way Lukaku does with his sheer presence. His raw pace and power make him such a threat that centre backs are quite rightly terrified of him.

Although predominantly left footed, we have seen him score goals with his right and he is also a major threat in the air giving him all the tools required to make Pepe Mel’s first game in charge a very tough one indeed.

Mel will have to make sure his two centre-backs are well drilled. With Lukaku mainly used as a lone striker, this will allow one player to mark him while the other drops back to mop up any loose balls. None of Albion’s current centre backs have the pace to match Lukaku’s so they will have to be on top of their game to ensure he doesn’t come back to haunt them.

Whilst Gareth MacAuley and Jonas Olsson have formed an impressive partnership, I wonder whether it might be wise to throw Craig Dawson in to partner one of them for this game.

Both Olsson and MacAuley struggle with any balls that go in behind them and I think the addition of Craig Dawson to the back four may minimise any damage that Lukaku’s previously mentioned pace may do with any through balls from the likes of Leon Osman and Kevin Miralles.

One plus point for Mel’s men is that the impressive Ross Barkley will be missing for the Toffees. This will be a tough test nevertheless and, unless the new boss addresses the Lukaku threat, I can see him scoring one or two goals against our defence.

I was hoping to see Lukaku back on the Hawthorns turf this season but the fact it isn’t in blue and white stripes is a worrying prospect! Let’s hope the Baggies can get the basics right, snuff out Lukaku and make it a night to remember for Pepe Mel in his first game in charge.